Diaper



April 1951 N. L. SELTZER 2,977,997

DIAPER Filed Oct. 7, 1958 INVENTOR NORMAN L.SELTZER BY 77M ATTORNEY "ly used diapers in commerce.

DIAPER Norman L. Seltzer, Newton, Mass., assignor to The Kendall Company, Walpole, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Oct. "7, 1958, Ser. No. 765,797

11 Claims. (Cl. 139-383) This invent-ion relates'to single-layer open-weave birdseye diapers having a reduced tendency to ravel at out edges. By a single-layer diaper I mean a fabric with one set of warpand filling yarns, as distinguish'edfrom the well known gauze diaper which iswoven with two plies or layers joined by an interweave.

Such single-layer diapers, woven with the familiar birds-eye or similar fancy weave, are popular and wide- Due to'the weave pattern employed, wherein certain yarns float over yarns in the opposite set without intersecting at each crossing, the fabric has an appealing softness and absorbency, particularly suited to the characteristics required in a satisfactory diaper. At the same time, such a fabric is durable in use, and is also economical to weave.

All single-layer birds-eye diapers with which I am familiar, however, suffer from one serious disadvantage. The very factors of design that make for softness and absorbency in this structure also make the fabric very susceptible to ravelling or fray at the edges where individual diapers have been cut from the original roll of cloth. This ravelling is particularly marked when such a cut piece of fabric is laundered. In order to produce a satisfactory launderable diaper from such single-layer birdseye fabics, it is the universal practice to protect the cut edges in some" manner. Commonly, this .is' done by hemming, although attempts have been made to protect the cut edge by impregnating it with latex or some liquid binder material.

Neither hemming nor impregnation, however, are en natededges are more stiff and unyielding than the body of the fabric, and hemmed edges are bulky, heavy, retain soil and staing-"and are slow drying. e

, A satisfactory diaper, besides beirig absorbei'it and inen-pensive to ananufacture, should be soft and yielding over its entireyarea: It 'should'also be substantiallyravelfree at its edges even after repeated washings. l

object of the invention is to produce an inexpensive single layer diaper having-reduced tendency to ravel at its edges without the necessity for impregnating, stitch- .ing, fusing, roihemming the edges.

' Another object fo'f the' invention is to provide 'a'fsingle layer diaper that is soft and yielding over its entire area.

A further object of the invention i's to make a diaper having 'the advantagesof the popular single-layer birdseye construction without the ravelling problem ordinarily associated with such fabrics; i

The "above objects of the invention. will be more fully apparent fromthe following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in'

w h: Fig; 1 is a plan view with my invention,

of a diaper made in accordance 7 Fig. 2 shows, in draft of the diaper' j'of- V edges ordinarily associated with birds-eye.

l atented Apr. 4, 1961 "Fig. 1 having adjacent bird -eye and plain-weave structures, and

Fig. 3 shows one repeat of another birds-eye-weave pattern, also in draft form.

In Figures 2 and 3 the warp yarns run vertically in the drawings; and the filling yarns, horizontally. The xs indicate where the warp yarns pass overthe filling yarns.

I have now discovered that by combining two different weaves in a diaper the advantages of a single-layer birdseye weave may be had without the problem of .raveling I Thus, plainweave bar portions are woven adjacent the conventional birds-eye-weave body portion of a single-layer diaper, and the diapers are pinked in the bar portion. If the number of filling yarns per inch in the plain-weave pinking bar portions is increased, the bar portions will have even greater ravel-resistance when pinked, even though not otherwise protected.

As shown in the figures, the preferred diaper is woven from warp yarns 14 and filling yarns 16, forming a single-layer birds-eye body portion 22., salvage edges 24- and 26, and plain weave pinking bar portions 28 and 3d. The pinking bar portions 28 and 3% have been pinked to give pinked edges 32 and 3 5. Normally, but not necessarily, the diaper is woven with its longer dimension running across the loom; in this case the pinking bars run in the direction of the filling yarns 16. As can be seen, all of the warp yarns 14 are used in the weaving of the single-layer body portion 22 and are also used in the weaving of the bar portions 28 and 30.

As mentioned above, Figs. 2 and 3 show in draft form weave constructions that may be used in making the diaper of this in'ention. Fig. 2 shows portions of the plain weave pinking bar 28 (similar to pinking bar 3%) and birds-eye weave body portion 22. Fig. 3 gives the pattern of an alternative birds-eye weave for the body portion 22;

The principal difference between the birds-eye-weave structures of Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 is the size of the pattern. The pattern of Fig. 2 has eight warp and eight filling yarns birds-eye weave mean not only the customary diamond weave patterns often referred to as birds-eye,fsuch as the birds-eye weaves of Figs. 2 and3, but also all other fancy'weaves in which an effect other than I weave is obtained by weaving.

that or" a plain The diapers of the invention are preferably woven with from, about 56 to about l24 warp yarns per inch 'in both.

the bodyand the pinking bar portions and from about 21 to about 50 filling yarns per inch in thebody portion. When the bar runs in the filling direction, between 56 and 70 picks per inch in the pinking bar are preferred, though the use of a plain weave without additional picks,

. or a plain weave together with any number of additional picks per inch, even as' few as ten, will tend to reduce I ravelin'g. This increase in the pick count may be effected by an:'ordi-nary pinch-pick mechanism, if desired. Preferably, the pinking bar is' not impregnated with any type ofbinder material.

The yarn sizes may range from about 10/1 to about 4-0/1 in both the warp and the filling, although yarn sizes between 16/1 and 31.5/1 are generally preferred. The twist multiples of-the yarns may be as low as 3.00am as high. as 4.75, twist multiples between 3.80 and 4.00 being preferred; vSuch yarns arebest'made from staple cotton,

rayon, or otherwater-swellable fibers or-mixture's thereof.

, Filamentary yarns, particularly those made of nonwaterswellablematerial such'as nylon, generally will. not give the same ravel-resistance in the fabric constructions customarily used for diapers.

I claim:

l. A soft, absorbent diaper with ravel-resisting edges, said diaper being made of warp yarns and a single set of filling yarns interwoven to form a single-layer birds-eye weave body portion, two selvage edges, and two plain weave bar portions, said yarns being cellulosic and waterswellable, said bar portions running in the direction of said filling yarns along opposing edges of said body portion, all of said warp yarns of said body portion and of said selvage edges being interwoven in said bar portions, said bar portions having a greater number of filling yarns per inch than said body portion, and said bar portions being pinked along their outermost edges.

2. A diaper with revel-resisting edges, made of warp yarns and a single set of filling yarns interwoven to form a single-layer birds-eye weave body portion and at least one plain weave pinking bar portion, said yarns being cellulosic and water-swellable, said bar portion running in the direction of said filling yarns along an edge of said body portion, and said bar portion having a greater number of filling yarns per inch than said body portion.

3. A diaper with ravel-resisting edges, made of warp yarns and a single set of filling yarns interwoven to form a single-layer birds-eye weave body portion and at least one plain weave pinking bar portion, said yarns being cellulosic and water-swellable, said bar portion running in direction of said filling yarns and having a greater number of filling yarns per inch than said body portion, and said bar portion being pinked along its outermost edge.

4. A diaper with ravel-resisting edges, made of warp yarns and a single set of filling yarns interwoven to form a single-layer birds-eye weave body portion and at least one plain weave pinking bar portion, yarns being cellulosic and water-swellable, said bar portion running in the direction of said filling yarns along an edge of said body portion, said bar portion having at least about 50 filling yarns per inch.

5. A diaper with ravel-resisting edges, made of warp yarns and a single set of filling yarns interwoven to from a single-layer birds-eye weave body portion and two plain weave pinking oar portions, said yarns being celluiosic and water-swellable, said bar portions running in the direction of said filling yarns along opposing edges of said body portion, and said bar portions having at least 70 filling yarns per inch.

6. A rectangular diaper with ravel-resisting edges, made of warp yarns and a single set of filling yarns made of staple, cellulosic, water-swellable fibers, said yarns being interwoven to form a single-layer birds-eye weave body portion having opposing selvage edges and two opposing cut edges, the fabric of said diaper along at least one of said out edges being a plain weave pinking bar portion, said bar portion running in the direction of said filling yarns along an edge of said body portion, said bar portion being pinked along its outer edge.

7. A woven diaper made of cellulosic, water-swellable yarns comprising at least one revel-resisting single-layer strip running in the filling direction of said fabric and having a pinked longitudinal edge, an' absorbent panel joined to the opposite longitudinal edge of said strip, said panel comprising a single-layer of bird's-eye diaper fabric woven integral with said single-layer strip, said singlelayer strip being of plain weave and being substantially free of impregnants, said single-layer strip and said singlelayer of birds-eye diaper fabric being woven from a single set of filling yarns.

8. A rectangular diaper with ravel-resisting edges, woven from warp yarns and a single set of filling yarns, comprising, a piece of single-layer fabric having two opposite cut edges and being bounded on the two other opposite sides by a woven selvage, the yarns in a narrow zone along each of said cut edges being woven in a plain weave and being free of bonding media, hemming, and stitching, substantially all of the remaining yarns in said fabric being woven in a birds-eye weave, the number of yarns per inch in said zones which run lengthwise of said zones being greater than the number of yarns per inch of the corresponding yarns in the remainder of said fabric said said cut edges being pinked.

9. A rectangular diaper with ravel-resisting edges, woven from warp yarns and a single set of filling yarns, comprising, a piece of single-layer fabric having two opposite cut edges and being bounded on the two other opposite sides by a woven selvage, the yarns in a narrow zone along each of said out edges being woven in a plain weave and being free of bonding media, hemming, and stitching, substantially all of the remaining yarns in said fabric being woven in a birds-eye weave, and said cut edges being pinked.

10. A single ply diaper with ravel-resisting edges made of warp yarns and a single set of filling yarns comprising a birds-eye woven body portion with two plain woven fillingwise bar portions having pinked edges, said bar portions being woven integral with and along fillingwise edges of said body portion, and said bar portions having a greater number of filling yarns per inch than said body portion.

11. A rectangular woven diaper with ravel-resisting edges, made from cellulosic water-swellable yarns having a single-layer body portion with two opposing selvage edges and two opposing cut edges, the fabric of said diaper along at least one of said cut edges being a single-layer bar portion and being pinked, said body portion being of birds-eye weave construction and said bar portion being of a plain weave construction, said birds-eye and plain weave constructions being woven from a single set of filling yarns. 9

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.21,092 Lankenau May 16, 1939 776,087 Robitschek Nov. 29, 1904 1,788,657 Caals Jan. 13, 1931 2,161,539 Swartz June 6, 1939 2,418,676 Sumner Apr. 8, 1947 2,619,089 Swartz Nov. 25, 1952 2,713,359 Dangle et al. July 19, 1955 2,845,069 Jamison et al. July 29, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 365,974 Great Britain Jan. 28, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No, 2,977,997 April 4, 1961 Norman L. Seltzer It is hereby certified that error; appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent, should read as "corrected below Column 3, line 35, after "portion," insert said column 4, line 19, for "said", first occurrence, read and Signed and sealed this 3rd day of October 1961.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents USCOMM-DC 

